How to Focus Stack in Affinity Photo

Before you start

Focus stacking in Affinity Photo is a local desktop workflow. The source images must already be available on the computer where Affinity Photo is installed. You need a set of frames taken from the same position with the focus point moved across the subject, and the application needs enough overlap between sharp areas to build one blended result.

Use the same exposure, white balance, aperture and framing when possible. Very small camera movement is normal and can often be corrected during alignment, but large changes in composition make a clean stack harder to produce. Keep the images in a format Affinity Photo can open, and store the originals separately if you want to preserve them before editing.

Step-by-step instructions

Open Affinity Photo and create a new empty document if it does not open automatically. Choose File, then New Focus Merge. In the file dialog, select the focus stack frames and confirm. Affinity Photo loads the selected images and shows the focus merge workspace.

Wait while the preview is prepared. If the option is available, enable alignment to correct small framing differences between frames. Affinity Photo may have the alignment behavior controlled by a checkbox or source alignment step depending on your version. If alignment is not offered, keep the original frames as steady as possible in the next attempt.

Once the alignment and initial merge are complete, select the final composite. If available, use the Cloning and Healing tools in the focus merge workspace to retouch areas where the blended image shows soft patches, halos or repeated detail. Sample from the sharper source layer or a clean area of the composite, then paint over only the problem region.

When the stack looks clean, click Apply or the equivalent confirmation control to return to the main Photo persona. The merged result becomes an editable pixel layer. Save the document in the native Affinity Photo format to keep layers and retouching available for future edits.

Check the output

Zoom to 100 percent and inspect the edges of the subject, especially where a foreground object meets a distant background. Sharp detail should be continuous across the intended depth range. Look for transparent or dark gaps that may appear when alignment is poor or when a source frame is missing focus in part of the scene.

Check the canvas size and pixel dimensions before export if the final image must meet a fixed requirement. Use the main export dialog to choose a file format and compression setting that match the destination. The native document keeps the full edit, while an exported format may flatten the stack and discard the individual source layers.

Common problems and next steps

If part of the final image is unexpectedly soft, select the affected area and compare it with the source frames. A missing focus step may leave a shallow band with no sharp source. In that case, capture or add a frame focused on that depth, then run the focus merge again.

If halos appear around edges, reduce the blending errors by retouching those regions from one source layer instead of using a broad adjustment layer. Avoid changing the focus merge visibility in a way that hides the wrong source without checking alignment first.

If the document has an unwanted aspect ratio or transparent border after a failed alignment, check the original frame dimensions. Cropping can remove a narrow edge artifact, but it cannot restore detail that was never present. Export the cropped version only after confirming that the new pixel dimensions still fit the intended use.